Welcome Back
by Mac-alicious
Summary: Four years after Hogwarts, Scorpius runs into an old friend in Flourish & Blotts.


Welcome Back

**A/N: **Here's my latest Rose x Scorpius one shot. It's really just a bunch of fluff really. I guess you'd have to assume they already had a strong friendship at Hogwarts. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the Next Generation characters I like to play around with.

**Welcome Back**

Scorpius browsed the shelves in Flourish & Blotts while he waited for the attendant to retrieve the book he had special ordered. He plucked a book off the shelf and began to flip through the pages as he headed down the aisle. Absorbed in the book, he didn't see the person heading toward him until he had collided with them, sending the books they had been holding everywhere.

"Oh hell." The person swore as they dropped down onto their knees to collect the books.

Scorpius mirrored the action and began to help, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was—" He stopped mid-sentence when he caught a glimpse of the person's face. "Rosie?"

Rose looked up, her mouth instantly falling open, "Scorpius?"

Scorpius stood with Rose and handed over the books he had picked up. "My God, Rose. It's been…years."

"Four." Rose nodded, starting back down the aisle with Scorpius beside her.

"Four years?" Scorpius blew out a breath, "Has it really been _that_ long?"

"Yeah." Rose smiled. "It has been that long."

"What have you been doing? I remember everyone being so certain that you would follow in your mum's footsteps and go into the Ministry. You obviously didn't do that."

"I still might." Rose commented, "But, uh, I had other things to experience before I committed to that."

"Like what?" Scorpius asked, genuinely curious.

"I did some traveling over the first summer after Hogwarts. Then I enrolled at a muggle university and got a degree." Rose answered. She sighed, "I know it might sound odd, but I felt like I had experienced the wizarding world for the first seventeen years of my life and that wasn't the only contribution to my life. I wanted to have similar experiences to what my mum had earlier in life. She lived like that for a good part of her childhood; I wanted to see what it was like."

"You went without magic?" Scorpius responded incredulously.

"Almost entirely." Rose nodded. "I cheated on a few things, but it couldn't be helped."

Scorpius chuckled, "I'd bet."

"You probably think it's a stupid reason." Rose blushed and looked at her feet.

"No, not at all." Scorpius shook his head, drawing Rose's eyes back up to his. "I think that's a perfect reason. It had to have been refreshing."

"It was." Rose nodded.

They had reached the front desk. Rose put her books up onto the counter to make her purchases. The attendant rang her up and she paid before gathering up her books. Scorpius stepped forward to pick up his book.

"Found your book, Mr. Malfoy." The attendant said, holding up the book.

Scorpius took it carefully, "Thanks a lot."

Together, Rose and Scorpius walked out of the store. They stood face to face on the busy street of Diagon Alley. It was then that Rose noticed the title of Scorpius's book. Her eyes went wide in that usual fashion of hers, awe and surprise all mixed together.

"I've been looking everywhere for that!" Rose exclaimed, reaching out a hand to touch the spine of the book Scorpius was carrying. "There's only, like, ten copies of that edition."

"I had to special order it." Scorpius replied. "I had to shell out more than three times the original price of the book to get the man to give it up, not that I'm not good for it."

Rose shook her head, "That's amazing. You're no different than you were in school."

"Well neither are you, Rosie." Scorpius responded, tapping her on the nose. "More books than you can carry, always trying to learn something new—it's thoroughly adorable."

"You think I'm adorable?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, in that you still look as if you're eleven sort of way." Scorpius chuckled as Rose's mouth fell open and she blushed deeply. "Oh you know I'm only joking. You're definitely grown up since I last saw you."

"You've done a bit of growing up yourself," Rose commented softly, the look in her eyes stunning him into silence.

He had trouble regaining control of his tongue, "You, you know you're welcome to help yourself to any of the books in my library. I have many r-rare volumes and editions."

"That would be lovely." Rose nodded, "Who knows what one would find in the Great Malfoy Library, all that history."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "Yes, Rose, that's quite true. Perhaps you would like to come tonight, if you don't have any plans. I could make dinner to us."

"Well dear Scorpius, if I didn't know any better I would think you're asking me out." Rose smiled, laughing lightly.

"Yeah, well…" Scorpius laughed nervously, "Maybe I am."

"In that case, I would love to," Rose responded. "I just need to go home and drop these off. And maybe clean up a little."

"Let's say, my place at eight?" Scorpius suggested.

"Sounds great." Rose agreed.

Rose agreed to meet Scorpius at his place. They said a quick goodbye and went their separate ways. Scorpius hurried home to get everything ready for Rose's arrival. He made quick work of cleaning up the place and starting food for dinner. Once that was done, he rushed to his room to change and freshen up.

He did all of this in a daze. He was still reeling from having seen Rose again. It seemed like forever since they had said that last goodbye at King's Cross after they had finished their education at Hogwarts. Scorpius had found it odd when Rose disappeared from his radar, but Rose had always been one to follow her own path. Now that she was back, though, he realized he had missed her a lot all of the years.

By the time eight 'o' clock rolled around, the dinner was finished and waiting to be served, the house was clean and Scorpius was nervously waiting for Rose to arrive. When the doorbell rang, Scorpius was out of his seat to answer the door in a split second. When he pulled it open, he found Rose standing in the doorway, her eyes directed toward her feet. He smiled at the sight of her.

"Hey Rose."

"Scorpius. Thank you so much for inviting me," Rose responded as he gestured her inside.

"It's my pleasure," Scorpius said. He led Rose to where dinner was waiting.

"This looks lovely," Rose commented.

Scorpius pulled out her chair and she sat down, sending him an acknowledging smile. Scorpius sat down in his own chair and picked up his fork, "You'll be happy to know that I made this completely on my own. I don't even employ a house-elf anymore."

Rose observed him thoughtfully for a moment. It was quiet, but pleasantly so. Scorpius couldn't help but fee that she was sizing him up, or something. When she finally responded, her voice was so soft, Scorpius had to strain to hear it.

"I was wrong." Rose murmured, smiling softly to herself. "You _have_ changed since Hogwarts."

"You're different too." Scorpius responded, "But there's still something about you that's distinctly Rose, something unmistakably you."

"I've really missed you. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed spending time with you," Rose said.

Scorpius nodded, "I feel the same. The years you were gone, I didn't think I was missing much, but now I wish you had been there. "

"Yeah, me too."

Once they had finished eating, Scorpius put away the used dishes. Then he led Rose down a hallway toward the back of his place. He stopped in front of one of the doors, a wide smile appearing on his face. He couldn't wait to see her reaction. He pushed open the door and pulled her inside. Scorpius watched her face carefully as she took in the room. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she turned around in a circle to take every inch of the room in.

"Wow," Rose murmured. "This is amazing! You have almost as many books as the Hogwarts library!"

"And there's no Restricted Section," Scorpius commented.

Rose laughed, "Can I take a closer look?"

"You don't need to ask. Go ahead." Scorpius gestured her forward.

Rose moved toward one of the shelves. She ran her fingers along a row of books, glancing at some of the titles. When she found one that interested her, she gently pulled it down from its place. She carefully began to turn through the pages. Scorpius walked over to where she was standing and read a little over her shoulder. She tilted her head up to look at him, smiling softly. He returned her smile before leaning down and kissing her lightly on the lips. She responded, kissing him deeper. When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers.

"Welcome back."


End file.
